Thursday, January 12, 2017

#KiliTeam2017: Michael

Ensuring climbers have enough water is key when climbing Kilimanjaro. To help, the incredible porters on route collect water from the rivers and streams along the trail. Some of this they will boil at the start of the day for climbers to carry in their water bottles. On the lower slopes climbers can collect water themselves from the many streams and purify it using a filter or tablets.

Outward Bound Canada is thrilled to have Michael McMillan as one of our #KiliTeam2017 climbers.

Michael co-founded and is CEO of Blue Ant Media, a Canadian-based media company. Blue Ant creates and distributes video content programming across a range of digital and traditional media platforms. It has offices in Toronto, London, Los Angeles and Auckland.

Michael is the co-founder and Chair of Samara Canada which is a non-partisan charity that is dedicated to reconnecting citizens to politics. Samara’s research and educational programming shines new light on Canada’s democratic system and encourages greater political participation across the country to build better politics and a better Canada, for everyone.

Michael is a co-founder and co-owner of Closson Chase Vineyards and Winery in Prince Edward Country, Ontario. It makes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.

Michael co-founded Atlantis Films Limited in 1978. In its early years, Atlantis was primarily a film and television production house, winning an Oscar in 1984 for its short film Boys and Girls. In 1998 Atlantis acquired Alliance Communications in a reverse takeover and the company became Alliance Atlantis Communications. Under Michael’s continued leadership, as Chairman and CEO, the company operated 13 Canadian television networks and also distributed and produced movies and television programs including the hit series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2007, Michael retired from Alliance Atlantis after selling the company to Canwest Communications and Goldman Sachs.

A member of the Order of Canada, Michael has volunteered with numerous community and industry organizations over many years, and is currently involved with Open Roof Films, Human Rights Watch, Civix, and the Community Food Centres Canada, amongst other organizations. He is a Senior Fellow at Massey College and co-author of the best-selling book Tragedy in the Commons.